Pontius Pilate played a pivotal role in the Passion of Christ. As a Roman political leader he had the power to free an innocent man from an unjust punishment. But, he chose a different path.

Pilate admitted that he could find no reason to condemn Jesus. His opinion was thus stated. However, the crowds put enormous pressure on Pilate, and he caved. He listened to the voice of the people, and not the voice of God.

In a similar way, how often have we heard Catholic and other Christian politicians say they are personally against abortion and gay “marriage” but go along with the crowd anyway. In addition, they, like Pilate, believe that truth is something that is malleable, something that each person can decide for themselves. For them, like Pilate, all issues that they face can be decided by their own personal opinion and not the voice of God.

We are Catholic. We are called to always turn to God and to his Word, Jesus Christ, in all that we do. Our opinions must be formed by the teachings of the Church and not by our personal opinions. We must not take the path of Pontius Pilate. We must always choose to follow the voice of God.

Ponder: On difficult moral issues, you take the path of Pontius Pilate or do you follow the voice of God?